You have to admire the British version of seaside engineering. Where Dubai has forged giant palm-shaped artificial islands off its dusty shoreline, and the Dutch have clawed whole polders out of the North Sea’s grip, our idea of getting one over on the ocean is a bunch of Victorians hammering a load of wood and metal a mile or so out into the water, and plonking a fairground at the end. Of course, not all the piers that have long bejewelled the coast from Ceredigion to Cleethorpes are in peak condition, but they still cast an evocative shadow across the UK beachfront – especially at this time of year. The National Piers Society (piers.org.uk) profiles 59 of them in all their grandeur, but here are a few of our favourites...